Unai Emery could be without as many as six first-team players for this weekend’s showdown at Villa Park, and we’ve got all the latest injury news and updates on the Villans’ stricken players below, along with their expected return dates when available.
Watkins suffered his groin injury during the recent 2-0 league defat to Wolves and it appears that he is still feeling the effects. The England international striker didn’t train last week, according to Emery, and it is not yet clear when he will be back on the turf at Bodymoor Heath.
Donyell Malen deputised in the central striker’s role against Spurs and may be called upon again, with Watkins still a doubt, although there is also a chance of a full Villa debut for deadline day signing Marcus Rashford up front. Emery had said after the Wolves defeat that Watkins’ injury was “hopefully” not a significant one, but a detailed prognosis has not been made public.
There are no indications that Watkins will be out for the long term, and Villa are typically more up front about serious injuries, but he is a doubt for the game against Ipswich. The only other player in the more attacking sections of the squad who could miss out is midfielder Ross Barkley, who has missed the last five matches with a calf injury. He is due to return to full training this week but is unlikely to be ready to start on Saturday.
Villa may have made it through to the next round of the FA Cup, but their win over a struggling Spurs side came at a cost – key defender Konsa was withdrawn before the half-hour mark after beating the ground in frustration after picking up an injury.
The injury was expected to be assessed by the club’s medical staff at the start of the week but the results have yet to be made public. Emery said after the game “hopefully it is not a big injury” and Konsa himself echoed his manager’s comments in a social post, saying that the muscular issue “hopefully isn’t a bad one”.
Clearly there is optimism from both player and coach that the injury, exact details of which are not yet available, is only a minor one, and Konsa was able to walk under his own steam after being withdrawn, but it remains to be seen whether he will recover in time to feature against Ipswich.
Konsa’s injury is made all the more worrying by the volume of injuries elsewhere along the defensive line. Tyrone Mings, who has missed the last four matches thanks to a “small injury” to his knee, is believed to be closest to a return, but he is still a serious doubt for Saturday’s Premier League game.
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Polish international wing-back Matty Cash, meanwhile, was sidelined for “three to four weeks”, in Emery’s words, by an unknown muscle injury at the end of January. He is expected to miss the upcoming games against Ipswich and Liverpool, with the game against Chelsea a week on Saturday the earliest realistic point of return according to Emery’s timeline.
The most serious injury is that sustained by centre-half Pau Torres. He picked up an ankle issue in early January that was expected to sideline him for at least two months. Early March remains the earliest point at which the Spaniard can realistically return to the line-up.
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